UnitedHealth Group on Thursday reported $14.4 billion in 2024 revenue, including $5.5 billion in … [+]
UnitedHealth Group reported $14.4 billion in profits in 2024, including $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter, as its portfolio of health insurance and provider services weathered rising medical costs and a historic cyber attack on its businesses.
The company’s annual net income — the lowest in five years — fell from more than $22 billion in 2023 thanks to a costly cyber attack on its Change Healthcare business. Meanwhile, the company experienced higher-than-normal costs in its health insurance plans from treating a large number of patients, especially seniors covered by its Medicare Advantage plans.
UnitedHealth Group, a nationwide provider of medical care services under the Optum umbrella and a company that manages and pays for benefits through its UnitedHealthcare health insurance plans, said 2024 revenue grew 8% — or more than 28 billion — to $400.3 billion, driven by “serving more people more comprehensively across the enterprise,” the company said Thursday. For the fourth quarter, UnitedHealth reported $5.5 billion in net income as revenue rose to $100 billion from $94.4 billion in the year-ago period.
Thursday’s report on annual and fourth-quarter 2024 earnings at UnitedHealth Group came a month after one of the company’s executives was fatally shot on a street in New York City before attending the health care giant’s annual investor meeting .
On Thursday, UnitedHealth confirmed the 2025 performance outlook it created last month that included revenue of $450 billion to $455 billion and net earnings of “$28.15 to $28.65 per share, adjusted net earnings of 29 .50 to $30.00 per share and cash flow from operations to $32 billion $33 billion,” the company said.
In addition to the shocking death of the top executive in the company’s health insurance business, Brian Thompson, UnitedHealth endured one of the nation’s largest cyberattacks on a U.S. company, costing the company’s UnitedHealthcare and Optum businesses more than $3 billion. last year.
A cyberattack last February on the company’s Change Healthcare business caused chaos for doctors and medical care providers across the country, paralyzing Change Healthcare’s massive billing and payment system. The attack caused a shutdown of parts of Change Healthcare’s electronic system, leaving doctors and other medical care providers without the ability to obtain insurance approval for patient services.
Meanwhile, the company, like other health insurers last year, faced rising medical costs in its health plans. Thus, UnitedHealth’s earnings report shows that the company is spending more on medical care as the company’s annual medical care ratio, or MCR, which is the percentage of premium revenue that goes toward medical costs, increased dramatically. “The medical care ratio for the full year was 85.5% compared to 83.2% in 2023,” the company said on Tuesday.
Health insurance company profits began to rise not long after the coronavirus hit the US in 2020 because people weren’t seeking care amid lockdowns, office closings and doctor appointment windows that were limited. When people don’t go to the doctor, a claim isn’t filed with the health plan, so the insurance company makes more money.
UnitedHealth’s net income for 2024 was the lowest annual income in five years. The company reported net income of $22.3 billion last year, had net income of $20.6 billion in 2022, after making $17.3 billion in 2021 and $15.4 billion in 2020. Before the pandemic UnitedHealth reached $13.8 billion in 2019.
At UnitedHealthcare, full-year revenue rose 6% to $298.2 billion as the company grew its customers served on its health plans by 2.4 million. Meanwhile, Optum’s full-year revenue rose 26% to $253 billion year over year thanks to its medical care provider business Optum Health and OptumRx, the company’s pharmacy benefit management unit.
“The people of UnitedHealth Group remain focused on making high-quality, affordable health care more available to more people while making the health system easier to navigate for patients and providers, positioning us well for growth in 2025,” Andrew Witty, chief executive. of UnitedHealth Group said in a statement accompanying Thursday’s earnings report.
